Lovers and Friends
by Lidbit91
Summary: JH Centric story...my ending for the show BASED ON SPOILERS THROUGH 820
1. Chapter 1

Ok, So in light of recent spoilers, I decided to write this in honors of all the heartbroken zennies over at Fan Forum. Unless you've read the spoilers through 8-20, you probably shouldn't read this, cause you won't get it. If you have, I'm just trying to rectify the situation that the stupid writers have created. The first chapter is mostly expository and it will get MUCH more J/H later on…

I don't usually write in script format, so expect more in-depth chapters later ((if there IS a later))…

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to or in association with That 70s Show.

"God, this feels so weird" Donna said, looking around the basement.

"Yeah, tell me about it"

"I can't believe the Formans are actually selling their house. Where are we supposed to hang out now?"

"Well, it's not like we're going to be doing much hanging out. You're going off to Madison, Kelso's in Chicago, Eric's in Africa…" Hyde trailed off. Donna just nodded.

"So where are you gonna go?"

"I don't know, man. I mean, I guess I'm gonna stay in Point Place, now that I've got the record store."

"Ooh! You can move in with me! Ever since Jackie left, I've been so lonely. But with you there, it'll be like a sleepover every night!"

Hyde looked at Fez like he had just grown three heads. "Yeah, no thanks, man. I'm not really a 'roommates' kinda guy. Unless that roommate happens to be female, of course." He finished, nodding his head.

Donna looked at him mock-disgustedly and shook her head, then turned to Fez. "Speaking of Jackie, what happened to her? I haven't seen her in like three days."

"Yeah, I haven't seen her since she moved out of my apartment, but I figured she was only ignoring me. You two haven't seen her either?"

"Well, I count any day without Jackie in it as a good one, so I've just been counting my blessings and not asking questions." Hyde added.

"Well, where could she be? I mean, she always comes to me when something like this happens. It's an annoying habit of hers." Donna said, worried. "I'm gonna go to her mom's, see if she knows anything" She got up to leave, but turned when she got to the door. "WELL!"

"Well what?" Fez asked, innocently.

"Aren't either of you two dumbasses going to come with me? You know, seeing as how this is all your fault in the first place!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass."

"Hell no"

She shook her head and muttered "Dumbasses" before storming out and slamming the door behind her.

Donna knocked on the door of Jackie's parents' house and waited. Finally, the door swung open to reveal a very angry Jackie.

"Jackie?"

"Well well well. Look who finally decided to show up to comfort her ailing friend in her time of need. Well, you don't have to worry. I don't need you."

"Aw, Jackie, I'm really sorry. I've just been so busy with my dad moving, and breaking up with Randy and my move to Madison. I just didn't really have time to come by. Can I come in?"

Jackie sighed. "Fine" She backed up and opened the door a little wider. "But I wanna see some serious groveling"

"OK Jackie." Donna said sarcastically, shaking her head.

When they got to Jackie's old room, Jackie plopped down on her bed.

"God, I don't know what to do anymore, Donna"

"What do you mean?" Donna said, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Everyone's moving on with their lives, and I just keep going backwards. I don't have a boyfriend, I don't have my own place, I don't have a job…" She was crying now, and threw her head onto Donna's shoulder.

After crying for a while, she finally came up for air.

"I've been thinking a lot about it, and I can't believe how utterly stupid I've been with this whole Fez thing. I mean, come on. I don't like _Fez!_ This whole thing just started because I didn't want Steven to think he could just come crawling back to me after everything. I just wanted to move on. And I still do, but not like _that!"_ She shuddered. "Oh Donna, what am I gonna do? I've probably ruined mine and Fez' entire friendship forever!" She started to cry again.

"Come on, Jackie. Of course you haven't. Look, the Formans are having a farewell party tomorrow night. Fez'll be there. You should come and talk to him."

"You really think that'll work?"

"Sure it will" Donna said, hoping it was true.

"DONNA! Oh my God, Donna!" Jackie shouted, running through the Formans' kitchen door before the party started.

Donna was standing by the stove, helping Mrs. Forman with the preparations.

"What?"

"Oh my God! So, the producers at 'Wake Up Wisconsin' called me this morning, and apparently, Christine St. George is retiring this year, and somebody over there remembered me, and they want me to replace her! How amazing is that?"

"Wow, Jackie, that really is great news."

"I know! It's exactly the kind of thing I've been waiting for!"

"They really just want you to replace her, just like that?"

"Well, before she leaves, they want me to come in and start doing a couple segments on my own, and that gradually they're going to just fade her out or something"

"Wow."

"I know! So, have you talked to Fez?"

"Yeah. Um, Jackie, look, he's not coming"

"What?"

"I don't know. I tried to talk to him, but he's still a little freaked out by the whole thing and he thinks you hate him"

"That coward! Fine, he doesn't want to come, that's his loss. I've got a job to celebrate here!"

"There's the Jackie I know" Donna laughed.


	2. Missing You

"Ew get off of me you freak!" Jackie shouted behind her as she ran down the stairs into the basement. "Donna can we go please, some of these old people are starting to get touchy!" She shook her head and turned to see that she was alone in the basement with her second to least favorite person at the moment. "Oh, it's you."

"Yepp," Hyde didn't have the energy to insult her like he usually did, and surprisingly, he found himself not really wanting to.

Jackie walked over and sat in the lawn chair. Hyde was sitting on the couch, in the seat closest to 'his' chair, but the TV wasn't on. She didn't know what to say. She and Hyde hadn't been alone together since, well since before she left for Chicago. She shuddered at the memory. They sat there in silence for a while before Jackie finally spoke up.

"So, do you know where you're gonna go yet?"

"Nah. I've been looking at apartments, but I haven't found anything yet. What about you?"

"I don't really know yet. I was offered an amazing job on 'What's Up Wisconsin?', but I'm not really sure if I wanna stay here."

"Why wouldn't you?"

She looked at him, pointedly.

"Right. So I take it your still mad?"

"Not so much. I've come to expect this sort of behavior from you lately. It must have something to do with the stripper leaving."

"Nah, not really"

"Oh, was married life everything you'd been so scared that it would be?"

"Surprisingly, no."

They were silent for a moment.

"Do you miss her?"

He thought for a moment, unsure of how truthful he wanted to be here.

"I miss parts of her"

She gave him a look.

"Steven, I'm being serious here." Silence. Then finally,

"No"

"Well, that's not surprising"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just that it's hard to miss someone you never loved"

"What makes you so sure?"

"You don't love _people_" She said, mocking him. He was quiet for a minute.

"I loved you." He said, so quietly she wasn't quite sure if he'd even said it. But the look in his eyes told her he had. She was taken aback at his honesty. He'd hardly even told her that when they were together. She recovered quickly though, unwilling to show him signs of weakness.

"Yeah, well that was different. You can't expect to have what we had with anyone else. I'm the most amazing woman you'll ever meet."

He nodded and didn't say anything. He was amazed at the tone of their conversation. He hadn't actually had a conversation with Jackie where they hadn't argued since before they'd broken up. He found himself unwilling to ruin that.

They sat there together, TV off, just thinking, remembering. After a while, Jackie spoke up again.

"I've been thinking. I don't blame you for your behavior these past months."

Hyde looked up from the spot he'd been staring at.

"And why's that?" He questioned, regretting it almost instantly.

"Well, because. When you were with that _stripper, _she fulfilled your sexual needs. BUT she didn't fulfill your _emotional _needs. Unlike your relationship with me. And now that we're not together, you've been trying to pretend like you never needed me. So for the past eight months, you've been insulting me, and picking fights with me. All because you wanted to erase the memory of what we had. And while I can't say that that doesn't hurt, I do understand where you're coming from."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"And don't try to deny it, because I know it's true. And nothing you say is going to change that, so don't bother. I just have one question."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Why were you so adamant about messing up my chances with Fez? Not that that whole thing wasn't just a big mistake. But still, why?"

He looked at her, seriously. "You know why, Jackie"

She folded her arms "Enlighten me"

"Part of me just knew that it was a stupid idea. And the other part…" He trailed off.

"What?"

He cleared his throat. "The other part of me didn't want you to move on."

She looked down. She was pleasantly surprised with Hyde's honesty during their conversation. He really was maturing.

"Steven…"

"Look Jackie," They both started at the same time.

"You go first" She offered. He gave her a look. "I'm not going to interrupt, I promise" She insisted. It was the least she could do after he was so honest with her.

He cleared his throat and took off his sunglasses. "Jackie, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For which part?"

"For everything. The past eight months. I mean, I know we've never talked about my marrying Sam, and I just wanted you to know that I really am sorry about the way things ended between us. And I'm sorry about the way I've acted towards you lately. This whole year has just been so screwed up…"

"It's ok. I probably shouldn't have acted the way I did, either." They were silent for a while.

"So, you think we'll ever be friends?"

"No" She said, almost too quickly.

He raised his eyebrows "Why not? You and Kelso were friends."

"Oh come on, Steven. You and I were never friends to begin with."

"Neither were you and Kelso"

She looked at him for a minute "I never loved Kelso the way that I love you"

To be continued…

A/N Soooo? Any thoughts you're willing to put on record? Please please tell me, because I'm not gonna waste my time finishing this if no one actually _likes _it


	3. How can we be lovers

Alright, I don't know if anyone's even reading this, but here's the next chapter to anyone who might be. And a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Hyde looked up, surprise evident in his expression. Jackie looked at him, unsure of what about her statement he had actually found surprising.

"What?" She asked.

"You said 'love'"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you said 'love' as in present tense"

"I know," She replied, looking into his eyes.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"Well what do you want me to SAY, Jackie?"

"Nothing, Steven. I don't WANT you to say anything. I was just telling you how I FELT"

They both sat there, just staring at each other intensely. Finally, Hyde stood up and walked behind the couch, throwing his hands up.

"God, I can't do this anymore"

"Can't Do WHAT?" Jackie asked, confused.

"THIS. This whole…pretending we hate each other thing"

Jackie scoffs. "I didn't realize you were 'pretending'"

"Come on, Jackie. I don't HATE you. I hate the way things have turned out, but I don't hate you." His voice lowered, "I never have." He said, shaking his head.

"Well, the only reason things have turned out the way that they have is because of you!"

"Yeah. I know."

Jackie opened her mouth, prepared to argue his reply, and then closed it again after hearing what he said. She was taken aback. She had never expected that Steven would actually take responsibility for the way things were between them. She was suddenly overcome with a renewed anger.

"You KNOW! If you KNOW, then why did you act like that?"

"Why did I act like what?"

She looked at him. "Like a jackass"

"Because I didn't know what else to do" He replied, lowering his head.

"So you behaved like a dumbass? Oh please, Steven. You did it because you wanted to hurt me. It's like you've been trying to one-up yourself ever since you married that whore. Well, its ok, Steven. I'm sufficiently hurt. So maybe now you can finally focus on something else."

"Jackie-"

"No really, Steven. I'm serious. I can't take it anymore. It's like you don't even WANT to remember what we had. Like it just meant nothing to you!"

He remained silent. Her voice grew quiet.

"Is that how you feel, Steven?" She asked, her eyes pleading with him to tell her differently, even though he was looking down.

"Jackie, you know that's not how I feel"

"No, Steven, I DON'T know. I don't know anything about you anymore! You're like a completely different person! The only thing about you that's still the same is the fact that you can't express your goddamn feelings!"

She got up to march out of the basement, but just when she got to the door, she heard his voice.

"Jackie"

She turned. He got up and walked over to her, grabbed her face with his hands, and before she knew it, his lips came crashing down on hers.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, sooo sorry I haven't updated in a while. But here's the next chapter, and I have most of the 5th chapter written already, so I should have that up soon. So let me know what you think and any suggestions/complaints you have!

Jackie kissed him back with the intensity of every feeling she'd been keeping bottled up for the past seven months. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she hated that he could still bring out those feelings in her. A part of her wanted to stay this way forever, in Steven's arms. But another part of her…

She pulled back, abruptly. What were they doing? It was so wrong. Yet at the same time, nothing had ever felt so…completely and totally right. Her hand immediately flew up to the tingling feeling he had left on her lips.

"What do you think your doing?" She asked, indignantly.

"What did it look like I was doing?" He replied with a smirk.

"Steven, you can't just…I mean, we have to…and you…stripper-" She stopped rambling and lunged at him, and they were once again enveloped in a passion that neither had felt for a very long time.

Jackie felt like she was in heaven. She had long ago accepted the fact that she was never going to feel this way again, and now that she was, she didn't ever want to let it slip away again. But she had to. She had been through so much the past year, and she wasn't willing to go through all that pain again. So, reluctantly, she pulled back again.

"Steven, no, I'm serious. We can't do this."

"Why not, Jackie?" He asked, exasperatedly.

"Because, Steven." She began, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Nothing's changed. You're still not willing to commit to a future with me. And I still don't want to be caught in a dead-end relationship. You hurt me, Steven. Regardless of what your reasoning was, you've shown me nothing but your ability to be an immature child for the past year, and I just don't how we get past that." She said, throwing her hands in the air as she finished.

"Jackie, I want to be with you now. Why can't that just be enough for you?"

"Since WHEN, Steven? How can you expect me to believe that you feel that way, after the way you've treated me lately? You've done nothing but hurt me, so excuse me if I have a hard time trusting that you won't do it again."

"The only reason I've BEEN hurting you is because I was trying to deny all this crap. This isn't me." He turned away from her and walked over to the washing machine, thinking.

His voice grew quieter and he walked back towards her. "Jackie, I've never felt like this before, and you of all people know that. I want you in my life again. And I know you do too. Why can't we just move on?"

"No, Steven. It doesn't work that way. I can't just forgive you like that."

"So give it time, Jackie. Let me make it up to you. Why can't we just try to make it work?"

"Because I'm scared, Steven." She said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm scared that you could leave again, and go impregnate some whore or something. And I just can't go through all this again. It's just too hard. I need to know you're going to be here."

"I'm not going anywhere, Jackie."

She looked at him for a moment.

"Yeah, well. I am." And with that, she turned and walked out of the basement, slamming the door behind her.


End file.
